Memorial held in Antarctica for three Canadians killed in plane crash

Clara Ho and Stephane Massinon, Calgary Herald01.28.2013

People take part in a memorial ceremony for the Kenn Borek aircrew who died in last week's crash in Antarctica, at the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on Monday, Jan.28, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-National Science Foundation-Blaise Kuo TiongBlaise Kuo Tiong
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Kenn Borek Air has been flying to the Antarctic for 28 years.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Facebook photo of Mike Denton, who died last week in the Kenn Borek Air crash in the Antarctic.Facebook Photos

Photo of Perry Andersen taken at the South Pole. Andersen was one of three Canadians killed in the crash of a Kenn Borek Air Twin Otter in Antarctica.Screen Grab
/ Calgary Herald

Kenn Borek pilot Bob Heath, who lives in Inuvik, was killed in a crash last week in Antarctica.
/ Photo courtesy Kyle Thomas

Perry Andersen was one of three Canadians killed in the crash of a Kenn Borek Air plane in Antarctica last week.Screen Grab
/ Calgary Herald

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A memorial service has been held in Antarctica to honour three Canadians who died in a plane crash there last week.

The three employees of Calgary-based Kenn Borek Air were killed when their Twin Otter slammed into a mountain on Wednesday.

The U.S. National Science Foundation held the ceremony at its Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.

The agency says the dead men made the ultimate sacrifice while supporting scientific research in a remote and hostile environment.

Aboard the aircraft was pilot Bob Heath of Inuvik, Mike Denton of Calgary and a third Canadian identified in media reports as Perry Andersen, of Collingwood, Ont.

American and New Zealand searchers were able to recover the voice recorder from the plane’s tail and it’s being sent to Ottawa to be examined.

But searchers have decided they cannot safely recover the bodies of the men until possibly October, when winter in Antarctica is over.

The earlier Herald story, filed Sunday:

CALGARY — Search and rescue members have postponed a mission to recover the bodies of three Canadians who died last week in an Antarctic plane crash because it is too dangerous.

However, they successfully retrieved some equipment that may help authorities piece together what led to the crash.

Crews were unable to reach the men as the wreckage is embedded in snow and ice on a steep mountain slope, officials said Sunday.

“It’s in a highly hazardous area and the plane suffered a severe impact with the mountainside,” said Graeme Ayres, manager of operations and infrastructure with Antarctica New Zealand.

The only accessible parts of the plane were the tail and rear fuselage.

“The weather is just too unpredictable and the field team was operating in extremely low temperatures. We don’t want those people exposed to further risk.”

Crews are also nearing the end of this Antarctic research season, with winter on its way to the southern hemisphere, so they made the difficult decision to postpone recovery efforts, said Peter West, spokesman with the U.S. National Science Foundation.

“The window of opportunity to do something this season is closing,” he said.

Ayres said the plan is to wait until the next research season, which begins in October and runs through the end of February, to resume efforts to recover the men’s remains. Ideally, the best time to restart the recovery would be November or December when the weather is calmer, he said.

The team, however, was able to retrieve some equipment from the craft, including the cockpit voice recorder from the exposed tail of the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter operated by Calgary-based Kenn Borek Air.

Ayres said the recorder could help provide aviation authorities with information that could start “building a picture” of what caused the crash.

The joint American and New Zealand search team tasked with the recovery operation started returning to the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station and Antarctica New Zealand’s Scott Base later Sunday.

The aircraft — which had been missing for days — was spotted early Saturday by a New York Air National Guard plane, and later by another Kenn Borek aircraft. The search for the missing plane was led by the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in New Zealand.

Its tail was visible at 3,900 metres on the 4,480-metre Mount Elizabeth. There was no sign of activity and the crash was deemed “not survivable” by Kenn Borek Air.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) plans to investigate what went wrong and has started collecting data and conducting interviews.

“The TSB is awaiting more detailed information from on-site before determining our next steps,” spokeswoman Julie Leroux said Saturday. “Because it’s a flight from Canada, we have the jurisdiction.”

The sighting of the downed plane comes after searchers were frustrated by ongoing poor weather in the Queen Alexandra Range.

Heavy clouds, strong wind and blowing snow made it impossible to spot the aircraft. Those who knew Heath said if anyone would know how to survive such a crash, it would be the highly experienced pilot.

“He’s a bit of a living legend up (North),” friend and fellow pilot Sebastien Seykora said earlier this week.

“He’s been flying down there for at least a decade. If somebody had a question about how to do things, especially about going down there, he would be the guy they would ask.”

Diane Ablonczy, Canada’s minister of state for foreign affairs, issued a statement Saturday thanking rescuers and offering condolences to family and friends of the three Canadians. “On behalf of Canada, I sincerely thank the New Zealand, U.S., Italian and civilian search and rescue teams for the valiant efforts they have made over the last several days to locate the missing plane,” she said.

“Canadian officials will continue to work closely with local authorities in New Zealand and stand ready to provide any needed consular assistance to the families.”

The plane was in the southern continent to support the work of both the American National Science Foundation and the Italian Antarctic Program. It was en route from the National Science Foundation’s Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and heading to the Italian base at Terra Nova Bay when contact was lost. Searchers followed the signal from the emergency beacon hoping the occupants could be saved, but the amount of damage on the plane dashed any possibility the men survived the crash.

A New York Air National Guard LC-130 was the first to spot the Kenn Borek plane. Another Twin Otter went to the site and made the determination that a fixed-wing plane could not land on-site.

Two helicopters — one from New Zealand and another from Louisiana — were stationed at a small camp 50 kilometres away to help.

Crews planned to bring the men’s bodies to New Zealand and then repatriate them to Canada. Both Ayres and Michael Flyger with New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre declined to comment on reports that the pilot may have turned too early while navigating a mountain range.

But Ayres said the fatal crash has been tough for those involved in the search and recovery.

“The Antarctic community was very close knit and, from New Zealand, we share a very close relationship with Canadians,” he said.

“It’s hit our team pretty hard at Scott base, same with the Americans, and I know the Italians are feeling very sad about this because the aircraft was on its way to support them.”

Kenn Borek Air has been in operation since 1970. According to the company’s website, 14 aircraft participated in its 2012 Antarctic season.

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